Dinner Rolls

Growing up, every year at Thanksgiving (and possibly Christmas and Easter), my Aunt Shirley would make dinner rolls. So light, yummy, and easy to go back for seconds. Before Shirley passed away to ovarian cancer, she taught me how to make the rolls. The recipe was one of a few that my grandmother, Mae, had taught her. Sadly, I never met Mae as she too lost her battle with cancer when my mom was only 15.

Here is a photo of Mae and her 4 youngest kids (she had 11 kids). Shirley is the younger girl and my mom is the older girl. What's scary - I know there is a photo of me around my mom's age here where I'm making the exact same face!! Strong genes!

Now that you can put a face to the legends. Here's how to make their yummy Yeast Rolls!

Ingredients:

In large bowl:                                                                               In 2 cup measuring cup or small bowl:

2 cups boiling water                                                                     1/4 cup warm water

6 tablespoons butter                                                                     1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon salt                                                                          2 packages Rapid Rise Yeast

1/3 cup of sugar                                                                    

Save for later:

                                                                      2 eggs, beaten                                                                      

                                                                     ~5 cups All-Purpose Flour

Directions:

Mix the items in the respective bowls per ingredient list. When water is cool and yeast is to top of cup (or tripled in size - see photo). 

To the large bowl, add 2 slightly beaten eggs, yeast mixture, and 5 cups all-purpose flour, gradually. You may need slightly more/slightly less flour. You want the dough to be sticky not gummy. Cover and set in fridge for at least 3 hours. Use as you as need, dough will be good for up to 1 week. (This was the dough after sitting in the fridge for two days).

Knead 1/2 dough at a time adding flour until you can roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out biscuit-size and place 1/2 inch apart in a greased pan. Let rise until twice their size on a warm surface (usually 1 to 1.5 hours).

Bake for about 15 minutes at 375°F. Can freeze for later use.

I only make these occasionally because it makes such a huge quantity, this year I sent three pans worth in with Clarissa for her class party. The rest were perfect for Thanksgiving dinner and leftovers.